Campaign to Defend Siping
Encyclopedia
The Campaign to Defend Siping (四平保卫战) was a struggle between the Nationalists
and the communists for the control of Siping
during the Chinese Civil War
in the post World War II
era. The nationalists have combined this campaign with the Battle of Siping
as part of the battle, but this was rather misleading since the strategies for both sides were totally different from the strategies in this campaign and unrelated to each other, furthermore, the commanders for both sides in this campaign were completely different from the Battle of Siping
. More importantly, the nationalists in the Battle of Siping
was in name only, because they were former nationalists (mostly warlords
ostensively under nationalist reign) turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II
, and the local bandits recruited by the nationalist administrators to fight off communists, since Chiang Kai-shek
’s nationalist regime simply did not have the resource to rapidly deploy his forces into the region. In fact, in the Battle of Siping
, Chiang’s own force did not even participated in the fights. This campaign was characterized by the fact that the supreme commanders of both sides had overestimated their strength and set unrealistic goals that could doom their troops in the field, but in both cases, the brilliant frontline commanders on both sides had successfully averted the potential catastrophes by convincing their respective supreme commanders to change their original decisions.
was determined to take Changchun
after taking Siping, and Mao Zedong
was equally determined to hold Siping to the end and prevent the nationalists from taking both Siping and Changchun. Both sides realized the upcoming campaign would be a difficult one and both sides placed one of their best field commanders in charge: Du Yuming
for the nationalists and Lin Biao
for the communists.
:
Defenders: communist order of battle
:
’s strategy, the communists were determined to hold Siping to the end. In order to fortify the city, everyone was mobilized to build bunkers inside the city, while food, ammunition and other supplies were stacked. Lin Biao
and personally inspected communist fortifications at important defensive positions such as Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) and Three Lines of Groves (San Dao Lin Zi, 三道林子) with Peng Zhen
in preparation for a prolonged campaign. Lin Biao also held a conference at Pear Tree (Li Shu, 梨树) county to plan the strategy of the defense: To better coordinate the defense of Siping, the communist formed an urban defense command inside the city headed by the Ma Renxing (马仁兴), the commander of the communist 1st Brigade, while the general headquarter retreated to the suburb at Pear Tree (Li Shu, 梨树) county. In order to boost the morale of defenders, a newspaper titled “Self Defense Newspaper” was created with Chen Yi (陈沂), the deputy director of the political directorate of the communist general headquarter as the chief editor. The communist decided to deploy only two regiments in the city to check the nationalist attacks while the bulk of their force would be deployed in the rear, in the region between Siping and Pear Tree (Li Shu, 梨树) county and the region between Siping and the Eight Sided City (Ba Mian Cheng, 八面城). Once the attacking nationalists were checked by the defensive force of the city in fortification, the communists would then concentrate their force to strike the weakest nationalist 71st Army.
On April 17, 1946, nationalist frontline commander Zheng Dongguo (郑洞国) and his deputy Liang Huasheng (梁华盛) moved their headquarter to Twin Temples (Shuang Miao Zi, 双庙子) and ordered immediately attack on the city. On April 18, the railways reaching the city was successfully severed. Two regiments of the 30th Division of the nationalist 71st Army under the command of Chen Mingren (陈明仁) attacked the enemy positions from the south from Haifeng Village (Haifeng Tun, 海丰屯), Pobozi (泊脖子), and Duck Lake Pao (Ya Hu Pao, 鸭湖泡) regions, but were beaten back three time consecutively. After the initial setback, Zheng Dongguo (郑洞国) held a military conference on April 19. The nationalist army and divisional commanders attending the conference concluded that the front attack on the strongly defended enemy positions was impossible, and attacks from flanks or other weak points must be selected instead in order to achieve successful breakthrough. The railway junctions that provided the link between the 3rd Battalion
of the communist 1st Regiment and the communist 56th Regiment appeared to be a good point for breakthrough. After the conference, under the heavy artillery cover, the 30th Division of the nationalist New 1st Army launched its offensive on the junction of the two communist units, and the nationalists had successfully taken the enemy position as expected. The loss of the position at the railway junction signaled that the defensive force inside the city must be strengthened and Lin Biao immediately did so, and informed the defenders in the city.
The arrival of the reinforcement greatly boosted the morale of the defenders and the advance guard of the 21st Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the communist Western Manchurian 3rd Division launched a counterassault on the nationalists with the help of other communist units, successfully took back the positions at railway junction previously lost on the same afternoon, while inflicting heavy casualties on the nationalists in the process, and the heavy casualties stopped the offensive of the nationalist 30th Division completely. After the struggle for Siping had begun, both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in their distant headquarters were concerned about the development and both frequently inquired the progress on the battlefield. Chiang was determined to take Changchun and thus Siping must be taken first to open the path for Changchun, while Mao felt that Siping must be held at all cost and on April 22, , Mao telegraphed Lin Biao to order him to hold on and wait for the campaign to turn for the better. From April 18, through April 26, 3 divisions from the nationalist New 1st Army and the 71st Army took turns to assault the enemy positions, but were all beaten back by the enemy in favorable terrain. By the evening of April 26, 1946, heavy casualties forced the offensive of the nationalist 71st Army to a complete stop, while that of the nationalist New 1st Army
was reduced to skirmishes.
After failing to make significant progress, the nationalist resorted to artillery to shell the enemy, but resulted in disastrous failure. The terrain favored the defenders in that there were relatively few artillery positions outside the city for shelling the city, and defenders were well aware these positions. The nationalists enjoyed numerical superiorities in artillery so these positions were jammed with nationalist batteries. The enemy defending the city, on the other hand, had fewer artilleries and thus was forced to move around whenever and wherever they were needed, and such frequent and rapid movement to the next new position where artillery support was needed helped the enemy artilleries from being shelled by the nationalist counter-artillery fire. In contrast, nationalist artillery was the first to fire for most of the time, but after firing, they were not able to move around due to limited positions available and the high concentration of batteries deployed in the few available positions. As a result, the nationalist batteries became victims of enemy counter-artillery fire and suffered great loss. When nationalists were forced to withdraw their batteries from the few available artillery positions to avoid losses, the enemy was out of range. As a result, the attacking nationalists lost the artillery duel. Mao was happy that the nationalist attack was beaten back again, and on April 27, 1946, telegraphed Lin Biao to praise him and his troop, and asked Lin Biao to deploy one or two more regiments to develop Siping into Madrid
in the East.
1st Division and 2nd Division were deployed in the northwestern suburb, the 7th Brigade and the 10th Brigade of the Western Manchurian 3rd Division were deployed in the eastern suburb, and 359th Brigade stationed at Gongzhuling
as reserve. The 7th Brigade and the 8th Brigade of the communist Southern Manchurian 3rd Column had also successfully severed the nationalist supply line between Changtu and Kaiyuan, Liaoning
, thus slowed down the nationalist push on the city. To distract nationalist force elsewhere and preventing them from reinforcing their comrades-in-arms attacking Siping, other communist units launched separate attacks on the nationalist positions, and by April 18, all of the final nationalist strongholds in Changchun region fell into the enemy hands, and on April 25, Qiqihar
fell into the enemy hands, and finally on April 28, all of the final nationalist strongholds in Harbin
region fell into the enemy hands. However, such success only strengthened Chiang Kai-shek’s resolve to take Changchun after Siping.
After the initial success of the beating back the nationalist attack, the communist high command became overconfident and daydreamed that within ten day, the communist defenders of Siping would go out of the city and annihilate the elite nationalist New 1st Army
. On April 28, 1946, the communist high command telegraphed the entire communist force defending the city by praising them for their success in defending Siping and hoped that they would continue their effort for the final victory, turning Siping
into another Madrid
. Lin Biao was well aware that the communist force at the time was not capable of fighting with the New 1st Army face to face, and telegraphed back on April 29, claiming that it was impossible to annihilate the New 1st Army at Siping, though this elite nationalist force would definitely be annihilated in Northeast China
, it was not the time when defending Siping. However, the unscathed large communist force in other areas was quite capable of badly mauling the exhausted New 1st Army after the fierce battles at Siping in an ambush at the favorable terrain and under the cover of darkness and bad weather, and such ambush was planned later on the presumed nationalist attack on Changchun. Du Yuming, the brilliant nationalist commander would not provide the enemy with such opportunity they wanted and thus would consequently foil the enemy’s hope by successfully convincing Chiang Kai-shek instead of immediately continuing to take Changchun after taking Siping as originally planned, the exhausted nationalists would stop at Siping regroup and re-supply, hence avoiding any possible ambush or counterattacks by the enemy.
Confident that the nationalists would be able to completely annihilate the communist enemy and would be able to first take Northeast China and then the entire China
afterward, on April 30, 1946, Chiang Kai-shek
turned down George Marshall
’s peace proposal that was agreed by the communists and neutral political parties in China
, and both the nationalists and the communists realized that any gains in the following peace negotiations would come from the victories in the battlefield. On April 1, Mao Zedong telegrammed Lin Biao, giving the latter the following orders: First, Lin Biao would have the overall control of the communist political and military power in Northeast China and if help was needed, Gao Gang
would be sent. Second, the nationalists had turned down the George Marshall
’s peace proposal that was agreed by the communists and neutral political parties and insisted on taking Changchun, so Siping and Benxi
must be held to the end so that the enemy (nationalists) would exhaust its supplies and ammunitions to the point that it would take at least six months to resupply, and thus providing time for us (communists) to strengthen ourselves (communists) at Changchun and Harbin
for better positions in the peace negotiation followed. Third, concentrating our (communist) force to achieve victory.
After setbacks outside the Siping, the nationalists believed that the situation in Northeast China depended the successful taking of the city, and after Siping was taken from the enemy, the overall situation for the nationalist in Northeast China would immediately be improved significantly, and thus the city must be taken at all cost. The elite nationalist New 6th Army under the command of Liao Yaoxiang
(廖耀湘) was first airlifted by the United States Army Air Forces
to Northeast China, and made its move to Siping from Kaiyuan, Liaoning
, Xifeng County, Liaoning
, and the Town of Yehe Nara (Ye He Zhen, 叶赫镇). With the arrival of the new reinforcement, the nationalists planned to concentrate their forces to take Siping and then take the city of Eternal Auspiciousness (Yong Ji, 永吉) and Changchun. In preparation, the 14th Division and the 22nd Division of the nationalist New 6th Army was deployed to Kaiyuan, Liaoning
from Liaoyang
and Benxi
, the nationalist 93rd Army was also deployed to Northeast China from Beijing
. In addition, the nationalist air force
concentrated all of its available aircraft in the region to support the offensive on the ground.
, Meihekou
, Changchun
and Qitamu (其塔木). The New 1st Army
on the nationalist central front would directly attack city and then would take Shuangcheng
and Dehui
after taking Siping, and continue its push to the regions north of Songhua River
. Two divisions of the 71st Army on the nationalist left front would attack enemy’s right flank, targeting Zheng Family’s Village (Zheng Jia Tun, 郑家屯) and Shuangcheng
. On May 15, 1946, with 10 times numerical superiority and additional technical superiority, the nationalist 50th Division at the left flank of the nationalist central front launched its fierce attacks under air cover and air support on the peak # 258 held by the enemy, located to the east of Siping and south of Hafu (哈福). After severe casualties, the enemy was forced to give up peak # 258.
On May 17, Du Yuming ordered the nationalist 195th Division in reserve into action and soon took Hafu (哈福), and surrounded the most critical point of defense of the city, the highest point in the east, a hill called Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) located 10 km to the southeast of the city. Excited about the progress, Du reported to Chiang Kai-shek that Siping would be taken soon. Chiang, on the other hands, was not so sure and worried that the nationalist offensive would once more suffer a setback, sent the nationalist Deputy Chief of the General Staff Bai Chongxi
to Northeast China to investigate. The night Bai reached Shenyang
, Bai told Du Yuming that Chiang had felt the battle to take Siping took too long, and he could not wait any longer. As long as Siping was taken, the nationalists would have a better position on the peace negotiation table than their communist enemy and taking Changchun would be after taking Siping.
Both sides were well aware the importance of the hill and nationalists launched multiple assaults on the hill, and all were beaten back by the communist 19th Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the Western Manchurian 3rd Division defending the hill. The nationalists then concentrate all available firepower to bombard the enemy position with an area around a hundred square metres at the hilltop at a rate of more than 30 rounds per minute, and the under the cover of intense artillery shelling, the nationalist New 6th Army under its commander Liao Yaoxiang
(廖耀湘) attacked the hill from three sides in the east, the south, and the west. After beating back nationalist attacks for six times, it was obvious reinforcement was needed. The communist 10th Brigade was order to reinforce Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) but they were delayed when crossing the Liao River
, and this was the most important reason caused the eventual abandonment of city.
It was obvious that it would be only a matter of time before the communist stronghold at Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) to be taken by the attacking nationalists, and with neither the technical nor the numerical superiority, Lin Biao felt it was much more important to preserve the communist strength for the future and he radioed Mao Zedong on May 18, to report the situation and intention to abandon the city. After sending the message, Lin Biao ordered a general withdraw without waiting for the Mao’s reply, and by midnight, the general withdraw in an orderly fashion was completed in total secrecy. Next morning, the nationalists entered and secured the city, and only after that did Mao’s reply came on May 19, in which Mao finally changed his mind and agreed with Lin Biao. Had Lin Biao waited, his entire force in the city would be annihilated.
, and thus foiled the enemy’s hope of possible ambush.
Equally brilliant, the communist commander Lin Biao dared to ignore Mao Zedong’s order and withdrew from the city on his own, thus successfully avoided total annihilation of his defending force by the numerically and technically superior adversary. However, Lin Biao was more fortunate than his counterpart in that he did not have to convince Mao for his decision and actions because Mao had realized his error and concurred with what Lin Biao’s had done. However, neither Chiang’s original plan of continuing to take Changchun nor Mao’s original plan of holding Siping had materialized and thus the campaign ended in a stalemate.
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
and the communists for the control of Siping
Siping (city)
Siping , formerly Ssupingkai , is a prefecture-level city in the west of Jilin province in Northeast China. Located in the southwestern part of Jilin Province, in the middle of Songliao Plain and at the intersection of Jilin Province, Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Siping...
during the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
in the post World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era. The nationalists have combined this campaign with the Battle of Siping
Battle of Siping
The Battle of Siping , also called the Battle to Liberate Siping by the communists was a battle fought between the Communist Forces and the Nationalist Forces in Jilin, China for the control of Siping during the Chinese Civil War...
as part of the battle, but this was rather misleading since the strategies for both sides were totally different from the strategies in this campaign and unrelated to each other, furthermore, the commanders for both sides in this campaign were completely different from the Battle of Siping
Battle of Siping
The Battle of Siping , also called the Battle to Liberate Siping by the communists was a battle fought between the Communist Forces and the Nationalist Forces in Jilin, China for the control of Siping during the Chinese Civil War...
. More importantly, the nationalists in the Battle of Siping
Battle of Siping
The Battle of Siping , also called the Battle to Liberate Siping by the communists was a battle fought between the Communist Forces and the Nationalist Forces in Jilin, China for the control of Siping during the Chinese Civil War...
was in name only, because they were former nationalists (mostly warlords
Warlord era
The Chinese Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China, from 1916 to 1928, when the country was divided among military cliques, a division that continued until the fall of the Nationalist government in the mainland China regions of Sichuan, Shanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia,...
ostensively under nationalist reign) turned Japanese puppet regime forces who rejoined the nationalists after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and the local bandits recruited by the nationalist administrators to fight off communists, since Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
’s nationalist regime simply did not have the resource to rapidly deploy his forces into the region. In fact, in the Battle of Siping
Battle of Siping
The Battle of Siping , also called the Battle to Liberate Siping by the communists was a battle fought between the Communist Forces and the Nationalist Forces in Jilin, China for the control of Siping during the Chinese Civil War...
, Chiang’s own force did not even participated in the fights. This campaign was characterized by the fact that the supreme commanders of both sides had overestimated their strength and set unrealistic goals that could doom their troops in the field, but in both cases, the brilliant frontline commanders on both sides had successfully averted the potential catastrophes by convincing their respective supreme commanders to change their original decisions.
Prelude
After the defeat of Jinjiatun Campaign, the nationalists resumed their offensive with vengeance. In a short period of just two days, the nationalists were able to regroup and re-supply completely, and continued their push toward Siping. Chiang Kai-shekChiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
was determined to take Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
after taking Siping, and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
was equally determined to hold Siping to the end and prevent the nationalists from taking both Siping and Changchun. Both sides realized the upcoming campaign would be a difficult one and both sides placed one of their best field commanders in charge: Du Yuming
Du Yuming
Du Yuming was a Kuomintang field commander active in the Sino-Japanese War theatre of World War II and in the Chinese Civil War from 1945 to 1949....
for the nationalists and Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
for the communists.
Order of battle
Attackers: nationalist order of battleOrder of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...
:
- New 1st ArmyNew 1st ArmyNew 1st Army was reputed as the most elite Chinese military unit of the Kuomintang. Nicknamed the "1st [Best] Army Under the Heaven" during the Chinese Civil War, it caused the most Japanese Army casualties during the Sino-Japanese War ....
- New 6th ArmyNew 6th ArmyNew 6th Army was a Chinese combat command involved in the Burma Campaign of World War II, and later, the Chinese Civil War.They operated in the Shan States and the Karen State of eastern Burma...
- 71st Army
- 93rd Army
- Army-sized 207th Division of the Youth Army
Defenders: communist order of battle
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...
:
- Wan Yi (万毅) Column
- Southern Manchurian 3rd Column
- Western Manchurian 3rd DivisionDivision (military)A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
- Northern Manchurian 7th Division
- ShandongShandong' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
1st Division - ShandongShandong' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
2nd Division - ShandongShandong' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
3rd Division - 3rd Division of the New Fourth ArmyNew Fourth ArmyThe New Fourth Army was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China established in 1937. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Communist Party of China and not by the ruling Kuomintang. The New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army...
- 8th BrigadeBrigadeA brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
of the New Fourth ArmyNew Fourth ArmyThe New Fourth Army was a unit of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China established in 1937. In contrast to most of the National Revolutionary Army, it was controlled by the Communist Party of China and not by the ruling Kuomintang. The New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army... - 359th Brigade
First stage
Under Mao ZedongMao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
’s strategy, the communists were determined to hold Siping to the end. In order to fortify the city, everyone was mobilized to build bunkers inside the city, while food, ammunition and other supplies were stacked. Lin Biao
Lin Biao
Lin Biao was a major Chinese Communist military leader who was pivotal in the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, especially in Northeastern China...
and personally inspected communist fortifications at important defensive positions such as Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) and Three Lines of Groves (San Dao Lin Zi, 三道林子) with Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen was a leading member of the Communist Party of China.-Biography:Born in Houma , Peng was originally named Fu Maogong....
in preparation for a prolonged campaign. Lin Biao also held a conference at Pear Tree (Li Shu, 梨树) county to plan the strategy of the defense: To better coordinate the defense of Siping, the communist formed an urban defense command inside the city headed by the Ma Renxing (马仁兴), the commander of the communist 1st Brigade, while the general headquarter retreated to the suburb at Pear Tree (Li Shu, 梨树) county. In order to boost the morale of defenders, a newspaper titled “Self Defense Newspaper” was created with Chen Yi (陈沂), the deputy director of the political directorate of the communist general headquarter as the chief editor. The communist decided to deploy only two regiments in the city to check the nationalist attacks while the bulk of their force would be deployed in the rear, in the region between Siping and Pear Tree (Li Shu, 梨树) county and the region between Siping and the Eight Sided City (Ba Mian Cheng, 八面城). Once the attacking nationalists were checked by the defensive force of the city in fortification, the communists would then concentrate their force to strike the weakest nationalist 71st Army.
On April 17, 1946, nationalist frontline commander Zheng Dongguo (郑洞国) and his deputy Liang Huasheng (梁华盛) moved their headquarter to Twin Temples (Shuang Miao Zi, 双庙子) and ordered immediately attack on the city. On April 18, the railways reaching the city was successfully severed. Two regiments of the 30th Division of the nationalist 71st Army under the command of Chen Mingren (陈明仁) attacked the enemy positions from the south from Haifeng Village (Haifeng Tun, 海丰屯), Pobozi (泊脖子), and Duck Lake Pao (Ya Hu Pao, 鸭湖泡) regions, but were beaten back three time consecutively. After the initial setback, Zheng Dongguo (郑洞国) held a military conference on April 19. The nationalist army and divisional commanders attending the conference concluded that the front attack on the strongly defended enemy positions was impossible, and attacks from flanks or other weak points must be selected instead in order to achieve successful breakthrough. The railway junctions that provided the link between the 3rd Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
of the communist 1st Regiment and the communist 56th Regiment appeared to be a good point for breakthrough. After the conference, under the heavy artillery cover, the 30th Division of the nationalist New 1st Army launched its offensive on the junction of the two communist units, and the nationalists had successfully taken the enemy position as expected. The loss of the position at the railway junction signaled that the defensive force inside the city must be strengthened and Lin Biao immediately did so, and informed the defenders in the city.
The arrival of the reinforcement greatly boosted the morale of the defenders and the advance guard of the 21st Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the communist Western Manchurian 3rd Division launched a counterassault on the nationalists with the help of other communist units, successfully took back the positions at railway junction previously lost on the same afternoon, while inflicting heavy casualties on the nationalists in the process, and the heavy casualties stopped the offensive of the nationalist 30th Division completely. After the struggle for Siping had begun, both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong in their distant headquarters were concerned about the development and both frequently inquired the progress on the battlefield. Chiang was determined to take Changchun and thus Siping must be taken first to open the path for Changchun, while Mao felt that Siping must be held at all cost and on April 22, , Mao telegraphed Lin Biao to order him to hold on and wait for the campaign to turn for the better. From April 18, through April 26, 3 divisions from the nationalist New 1st Army and the 71st Army took turns to assault the enemy positions, but were all beaten back by the enemy in favorable terrain. By the evening of April 26, 1946, heavy casualties forced the offensive of the nationalist 71st Army to a complete stop, while that of the nationalist New 1st Army
New 1st Army
New 1st Army was reputed as the most elite Chinese military unit of the Kuomintang. Nicknamed the "1st [Best] Army Under the Heaven" during the Chinese Civil War, it caused the most Japanese Army casualties during the Sino-Japanese War ....
was reduced to skirmishes.
After failing to make significant progress, the nationalist resorted to artillery to shell the enemy, but resulted in disastrous failure. The terrain favored the defenders in that there were relatively few artillery positions outside the city for shelling the city, and defenders were well aware these positions. The nationalists enjoyed numerical superiorities in artillery so these positions were jammed with nationalist batteries. The enemy defending the city, on the other hand, had fewer artilleries and thus was forced to move around whenever and wherever they were needed, and such frequent and rapid movement to the next new position where artillery support was needed helped the enemy artilleries from being shelled by the nationalist counter-artillery fire. In contrast, nationalist artillery was the first to fire for most of the time, but after firing, they were not able to move around due to limited positions available and the high concentration of batteries deployed in the few available positions. As a result, the nationalist batteries became victims of enemy counter-artillery fire and suffered great loss. When nationalists were forced to withdraw their batteries from the few available artillery positions to avoid losses, the enemy was out of range. As a result, the attacking nationalists lost the artillery duel. Mao was happy that the nationalist attack was beaten back again, and on April 27, 1946, telegraphed Lin Biao to praise him and his troop, and asked Lin Biao to deploy one or two more regiments to develop Siping into Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
in the East.
Second stage
To better defend the city, Lin Biao redeployed his forces: the 21st Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the communist Western Manchurian 3rd Division, the 67th Regiment and the 2nd Regiment of the Artillery Brigade of the Northern Manchurian 7th Division entered the city to boost the defense, the 55th Regiment and the 58th Regiment of the 19th Brigade of the communist Wan Yi (万毅) Column was deployed in southern suburb, the ShandongShandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
1st Division and 2nd Division were deployed in the northwestern suburb, the 7th Brigade and the 10th Brigade of the Western Manchurian 3rd Division were deployed in the eastern suburb, and 359th Brigade stationed at Gongzhuling
Gongzhuling
-Administrative Divisions:Subdistricts:*Dongsan Subdistrict , Tiebei Subdistrict , Tiedong Subdistrict , Henan Subdistrict , Hebei Subdistrict Towns:...
as reserve. The 7th Brigade and the 8th Brigade of the communist Southern Manchurian 3rd Column had also successfully severed the nationalist supply line between Changtu and Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan is a county-level city in the northeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. It is under the administration of Tieling City, which lies to the southwest....
, thus slowed down the nationalist push on the city. To distract nationalist force elsewhere and preventing them from reinforcing their comrades-in-arms attacking Siping, other communist units launched separate attacks on the nationalist positions, and by April 18, all of the final nationalist strongholds in Changchun region fell into the enemy hands, and on April 25, Qiqihar
Qiqihar
- Subdivisions :Qiqihar is divided into 16 divisions: 7 districts , 8 counties and 1 county-level city .-Economy:...
fell into the enemy hands, and finally on April 28, all of the final nationalist strongholds in Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
region fell into the enemy hands. However, such success only strengthened Chiang Kai-shek’s resolve to take Changchun after Siping.
After the initial success of the beating back the nationalist attack, the communist high command became overconfident and daydreamed that within ten day, the communist defenders of Siping would go out of the city and annihilate the elite nationalist New 1st Army
New 1st Army
New 1st Army was reputed as the most elite Chinese military unit of the Kuomintang. Nicknamed the "1st [Best] Army Under the Heaven" during the Chinese Civil War, it caused the most Japanese Army casualties during the Sino-Japanese War ....
. On April 28, 1946, the communist high command telegraphed the entire communist force defending the city by praising them for their success in defending Siping and hoped that they would continue their effort for the final victory, turning Siping
Siping (city)
Siping , formerly Ssupingkai , is a prefecture-level city in the west of Jilin province in Northeast China. Located in the southwestern part of Jilin Province, in the middle of Songliao Plain and at the intersection of Jilin Province, Liaoning Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Siping...
into another Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Lin Biao was well aware that the communist force at the time was not capable of fighting with the New 1st Army face to face, and telegraphed back on April 29, claiming that it was impossible to annihilate the New 1st Army at Siping, though this elite nationalist force would definitely be annihilated in Northeast China
Northeast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
, it was not the time when defending Siping. However, the unscathed large communist force in other areas was quite capable of badly mauling the exhausted New 1st Army after the fierce battles at Siping in an ambush at the favorable terrain and under the cover of darkness and bad weather, and such ambush was planned later on the presumed nationalist attack on Changchun. Du Yuming, the brilliant nationalist commander would not provide the enemy with such opportunity they wanted and thus would consequently foil the enemy’s hope by successfully convincing Chiang Kai-shek instead of immediately continuing to take Changchun after taking Siping as originally planned, the exhausted nationalists would stop at Siping regroup and re-supply, hence avoiding any possible ambush or counterattacks by the enemy.
Confident that the nationalists would be able to completely annihilate the communist enemy and would be able to first take Northeast China and then the entire China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
afterward, on April 30, 1946, Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
turned down George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
’s peace proposal that was agreed by the communists and neutral political parties in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and both the nationalists and the communists realized that any gains in the following peace negotiations would come from the victories in the battlefield. On April 1, Mao Zedong telegrammed Lin Biao, giving the latter the following orders: First, Lin Biao would have the overall control of the communist political and military power in Northeast China and if help was needed, Gao Gang
Gao Gang
Gao Gang was a Chinese Communist Party leader during the Chinese Civil War and the early years of the People's Republic of China , before becoming the victim of the first major purge within the CCP since before 1949...
would be sent. Second, the nationalists had turned down the George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
’s peace proposal that was agreed by the communists and neutral political parties and insisted on taking Changchun, so Siping and Benxi
Benxi
Benxi is a prefecture-level city located in the east of Liaoning province in Northeast China, south-southeast of Shenyang. Its population is 1,709,538 at the 2010 census whom 959,610 in the built up area It was founded as a metallurgical center in 1915...
must be held to the end so that the enemy (nationalists) would exhaust its supplies and ammunitions to the point that it would take at least six months to resupply, and thus providing time for us (communists) to strengthen ourselves (communists) at Changchun and Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
for better positions in the peace negotiation followed. Third, concentrating our (communist) force to achieve victory.
After setbacks outside the Siping, the nationalists believed that the situation in Northeast China depended the successful taking of the city, and after Siping was taken from the enemy, the overall situation for the nationalist in Northeast China would immediately be improved significantly, and thus the city must be taken at all cost. The elite nationalist New 6th Army under the command of Liao Yaoxiang
Liao Yaoxiang
Liao Yiaoxiang was a high-ranking nationalist commander who successful fought against both the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces. He was one of the few nationalist commanders who graduated from a western military academy besides General Sun Liren...
(廖耀湘) was first airlifted by the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
to Northeast China, and made its move to Siping from Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan is a county-level city in the northeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. It is under the administration of Tieling City, which lies to the southwest....
, Xifeng County, Liaoning
Xifeng County, Liaoning
Xifeng County is a county within the Liaoning province, China, and is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Tieling. It has an area of and a population of 340,000.-Administrative Divisions:Towns:...
, and the Town of Yehe Nara (Ye He Zhen, 叶赫镇). With the arrival of the new reinforcement, the nationalists planned to concentrate their forces to take Siping and then take the city of Eternal Auspiciousness (Yong Ji, 永吉) and Changchun. In preparation, the 14th Division and the 22nd Division of the nationalist New 6th Army was deployed to Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan, Liaoning
Kaiyuan is a county-level city in the northeast of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. It is under the administration of Tieling City, which lies to the southwest....
from Liaoyang
Liaoyang
Liaoyang is a city in China, Liaoning province, located in the middle of the Liaodong Peninsula. The city is situated on the T'ai-tzu River and forms with Anshan a built up area of 2,057,200 inhabitants in 2010....
and Benxi
Benxi
Benxi is a prefecture-level city located in the east of Liaoning province in Northeast China, south-southeast of Shenyang. Its population is 1,709,538 at the 2010 census whom 959,610 in the built up area It was founded as a metallurgical center in 1915...
, the nationalist 93rd Army was also deployed to Northeast China from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. In addition, the nationalist air force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
concentrated all of its available aircraft in the region to support the offensive on the ground.
Third stage
On May 15, Du Yuming gave the order to launch a general assault on the Siping and declared to his men that the city must be take this time. The nationalist assault came in three fronts: the 88th Division and the New 6th Army of the nationalist right front would attack the enemy’s left flank, targeting cities including GongzhulingGongzhuling
-Administrative Divisions:Subdistricts:*Dongsan Subdistrict , Tiebei Subdistrict , Tiedong Subdistrict , Henan Subdistrict , Hebei Subdistrict Towns:...
, Meihekou
Meihekou
Meihekou is a city of 600,000 in southwestern Jilin province, Northeast China. It is a regional transport hub, connecting three railway lines, all of which are single track, and 2 national highways...
, Changchun
Changchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
and Qitamu (其塔木). The New 1st Army
New 1st Army
New 1st Army was reputed as the most elite Chinese military unit of the Kuomintang. Nicknamed the "1st [Best] Army Under the Heaven" during the Chinese Civil War, it caused the most Japanese Army casualties during the Sino-Japanese War ....
on the nationalist central front would directly attack city and then would take Shuangcheng
Shuangcheng
Shuangcheng is the south of Heilongjiang province in Northeast China and is administratively a county-level city under the administration of Harbin. It sits approximately south-southwest of downtown Harbin....
and Dehui
Dehui
Dehui is a city in northwestern Jilin province in Northeast China, located in the middle of the Songliao Plain. It has a total population of 906,000 and an urban population of 753,000...
after taking Siping, and continue its push to the regions north of Songhua River
Songhua River
The Songhua or Sunggari River is a river in Northeast China, and is the largest tributary of the Heilong River , flowing about from Changbai Mountains through Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces. The river drains of land, and has an annual discharge of .As the Second Songhua River, it joins the...
. Two divisions of the 71st Army on the nationalist left front would attack enemy’s right flank, targeting Zheng Family’s Village (Zheng Jia Tun, 郑家屯) and Shuangcheng
Shuangcheng
Shuangcheng is the south of Heilongjiang province in Northeast China and is administratively a county-level city under the administration of Harbin. It sits approximately south-southwest of downtown Harbin....
. On May 15, 1946, with 10 times numerical superiority and additional technical superiority, the nationalist 50th Division at the left flank of the nationalist central front launched its fierce attacks under air cover and air support on the peak # 258 held by the enemy, located to the east of Siping and south of Hafu (哈福). After severe casualties, the enemy was forced to give up peak # 258.
On May 17, Du Yuming ordered the nationalist 195th Division in reserve into action and soon took Hafu (哈福), and surrounded the most critical point of defense of the city, the highest point in the east, a hill called Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) located 10 km to the southeast of the city. Excited about the progress, Du reported to Chiang Kai-shek that Siping would be taken soon. Chiang, on the other hands, was not so sure and worried that the nationalist offensive would once more suffer a setback, sent the nationalist Deputy Chief of the General Staff Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi
Bai Chongxi , , also spelled Pai Chung-hsi, was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and a prominent Chinese Nationalist Muslim leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith...
to Northeast China to investigate. The night Bai reached Shenyang
Shenyang
Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
, Bai told Du Yuming that Chiang had felt the battle to take Siping took too long, and he could not wait any longer. As long as Siping was taken, the nationalists would have a better position on the peace negotiation table than their communist enemy and taking Changchun would be after taking Siping.
Both sides were well aware the importance of the hill and nationalists launched multiple assaults on the hill, and all were beaten back by the communist 19th Regiment of the 7th Brigade of the Western Manchurian 3rd Division defending the hill. The nationalists then concentrate all available firepower to bombard the enemy position with an area around a hundred square metres at the hilltop at a rate of more than 30 rounds per minute, and the under the cover of intense artillery shelling, the nationalist New 6th Army under its commander Liao Yaoxiang
Liao Yaoxiang
Liao Yiaoxiang was a high-ranking nationalist commander who successful fought against both the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces. He was one of the few nationalist commanders who graduated from a western military academy besides General Sun Liren...
(廖耀湘) attacked the hill from three sides in the east, the south, and the west. After beating back nationalist attacks for six times, it was obvious reinforcement was needed. The communist 10th Brigade was order to reinforce Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) but they were delayed when crossing the Liao River
Liao River
The Liao River is the principal river in northeast China . The province of Liaoning and the Liaodong Peninsula derive their names from the river....
, and this was the most important reason caused the eventual abandonment of city.
It was obvious that it would be only a matter of time before the communist stronghold at Pagoda Mountain (Ta Zi Shan, 塔子山) to be taken by the attacking nationalists, and with neither the technical nor the numerical superiority, Lin Biao felt it was much more important to preserve the communist strength for the future and he radioed Mao Zedong on May 18, to report the situation and intention to abandon the city. After sending the message, Lin Biao ordered a general withdraw without waiting for the Mao’s reply, and by midnight, the general withdraw in an orderly fashion was completed in total secrecy. Next morning, the nationalists entered and secured the city, and only after that did Mao’s reply came on May 19, in which Mao finally changed his mind and agreed with Lin Biao. Had Lin Biao waited, his entire force in the city would be annihilated.
Outcome
The brilliance of the frontline commanders on both sides was obvious toward the end and after the campaign. Chiang Kai-shek was overjoyed with the taking of Siping and ordered the nationalists to immediately continue their attack and to take Changchun without a break, so that the enemy would not have the chance to regroup. Du Yuming, the nationalist frontline commander was well aware that his exhausted force must rest and regroup for sometime before launching anymore attacks on the enemy. Furthermore, Du and his fellow officers were also keenly aware that the majority of the enemy force in the rural regions was unscathed and was waiting to ambush them out in the open if the exhausted nationalists had ventured into the terrain hostile to the mechanized force. Du and his officers were determined not to give the enemy the opportunity they had been waiting for, and in a rare example among Chiang’s most trusted subordinates, Du Yuming refused to carry out Chiang’s order and successfully convinced Chiang to stop the planned offensive to allow the nationalists to consolidate their gains in Northeast ChinaNortheast China
Northeast China, historically known in English as Manchuria, is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The region is sometimes called the Three Northeast Provinces...
, and thus foiled the enemy’s hope of possible ambush.
Equally brilliant, the communist commander Lin Biao dared to ignore Mao Zedong’s order and withdrew from the city on his own, thus successfully avoided total annihilation of his defending force by the numerically and technically superior adversary. However, Lin Biao was more fortunate than his counterpart in that he did not have to convince Mao for his decision and actions because Mao had realized his error and concurred with what Lin Biao’s had done. However, neither Chiang’s original plan of continuing to take Changchun nor Mao’s original plan of holding Siping had materialized and thus the campaign ended in a stalemate.
See also
- List of battles of the Chinese Civil War
- National Revolutionary ArmyNational Revolutionary ArmyThe National Revolutionary Army , pre-1928 sometimes shortened to 革命軍 or Revolutionary Army and between 1928-1947 as 國軍 or National Army was the Military Arm of the Kuomintang from 1925 until 1947, as well as the national army of the Republic of China during the KMT's period of party rule...
- History of the People's Liberation ArmyHistory of the People's Liberation ArmyThe history of the People's Liberation Army began in 1927 with the start of the Chinese Civil War and spans to the present, having developed from a peasant guerrilla force into the largest armed force in the world.-Historical background:...
- Chinese Civil WarChinese Civil WarThe Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...